OHSAA Boys Basketball Semifinals

COLUMBUS, Ohio - This year’s Ohio State Boys Basketball Tournament kicked off for the 95th straight year on Thursday, as fans from all over the Buckeye State headed to the Jerome Schottenstein Center on the campus of Ohio State University to watch their school compete against the best. Over the course of Thursday and Friday we saw the Division I, II, III and IV State Semifinals; Here’s a look at which schools will be advancing to Saturday’s championship games….

Cincinnati Moeller 57 Pickerington Central 47: In a battle of the two most heavily praised teams heading into this tournament, Cincinnati Moeller overcame a slow start to remain undefeated and advance to the D1 State Finals. Moeller outscored Pickerington Central 20-9 in the final period, in which the Crusaders shot 8/11 from the field, and generally made better decisions with the ball than their opponent, all propelling Moeller to their first D1 State Final since 2011 (Moeller last won the title in 2007). The key to the game had to be Moeller’s bench play, as junior wing Jeremiah Davenport was the difference maker in tallying a game high 17 points on 7/8 shooting while adding 7 rebounds. Additionally, 6’8 junior Jaxson Hayes was impressive off the bench for Moe, as he defended 6’10 North Carolina signee Sterling Manley of Pickerington Central. Moeller also got 13 points from star sophomore guard Miles “Deuce” McBride, who also added 4 assists and was instrumental in Moeller limiting Pickerington Central star guard Jeremiah Francis in the second half. Also scoring in double figures for Moeller were senior guard Keegan McDowell and junior guard Isaiah “Sleepy” Payton, who added 10 points each. Pickerington Central was led by Francis, who was the best player on the court in the first half, with 16 points, including four made three-pointers, while Manley added 12 points and 7 rebound and junior forward Adrian Nelson chipped in with 11 points. Fellow junior forward Juan Elmore also deserves mention for Pickerington Central, as the strong-bodied forward added 8 points and 5 boards. On Saturday, Moeller will have a chance to become the first Ohio D1 team since Zanesville in 1995 to complete an undefeated season.

Massillon Jackson 75 Cleveland St. Edward 64: Ohio’s pre-season favorite to win the D1 crown, Massillon Jackson looked the part of a championship team on Friday evening, racing out to a double-figure lead early in the second quarter and never looking back in their win over a gritty St. Edward team. Butler signee Kyle Young, one of Ohio’s elite seniors as a skilled 6’7 forward who can shoot the basketball, dominated as expected, as he finished with a game-high 25 points on 10/12 shooting to go along with 7 rebounds. A talented, deep and big Jackson team really shot the ball well in the contest, finishing with a 59% field goal percentage and tallying 15 total assists on the night in a balanced effort. The other two main standouts for Jackson were senior forward Logan Hill, a Toledo signee, who scored 11 points, and junior wing Jaret Pallotta who scored 7 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and dished out 8 assists. Cleveland St. Edward was led by senior point guard Tommy Schmock, who capped a terrific career with a team-high 23 points to go along with 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals. While Schmock was the only double-figure scorer from Ed’s, freshman guard Grant Huffman showed tremendous promise as a future high school star, as the 6’2 guard was aggressive off the dribble and showed an advanced skill-set in scoring 7 points.

Wauseon 42 Columbus Eastmoor Academy 35: Playing in their first State Semifinal since 1994, the entire Wauseon community came from Northwest Ohio to watch their Indians will their way to victory in a game that was closer than the final score suggests. Wauseon led by just two with less than a minute to go, before the Indians found a way to get multiple defensive stops (something that they’ve been known for all year) and converted the ensuing free throws to clinch the win. In improving to 27-1 heading into Saturday’s title game, Wauseon was led by 6’3 junior forward Brooks Gype with 14 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists, while 6’8 junior post Austin Rotroff was also a key performer with 6 points, 7 rebounds and 7 blocked shots. Senior guard Carter Bzovi also tallied double-figure points for the Indians, finishing with 13 points and 7 rebounds in the win. Star junior guard Taevion Kinsey was the only Eastmoor player to score in double-figures, tallying 15 points as his team was held to just 32% shooting and 10% shooting from behind the three-point line.

Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary’s 62 Trotwood Madison 60: The second State Semifinal of the day was a thriller, as the Irish, who had lost to Trotwood in a lopsided contest in January, made a late rally, winning on a buzzer beating layup by star senior guard Jayvon Graves. After trailing by one point heading into the fourth, Trotwood, the big favorite to capture the State Title, built a four-point lead with one minute to go before madness ensued. St. V’s Jon Williams ended the sequence by stealing the ball from Trotwood with under :20 to play, as the Rams were attempting to hold the ball in a tie game for the last shot. This set up the Graves layup, which fell through the net less than a second before the final buzzer sounded. Graves led the Irish on the night, scoring 22 points and grabbing 10 rebounds, while sophomore forward Lunden McDay added 15 points and senior wing Justin Sampson chipped in with 11 points. While he only scored 7 points, Jon Williams (a Robert Morris signee) was also key for SVSM, as he added 7 assists, 3 rebounds and 3 steals in the win. For Trotwood, senior guard Torrey Patton was electric; setting the state record for most points in a D2 State Semifinal with 34 points on 13/26 shooting, while adding 11 rebounds. Junior wing Myles Belyeu added 13 points and 4 rebounds for Trotwood, while promising sophomore wing Amari Davis chipped in 10 points and 4 rebounds of his own.

Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joe’s 73 Proctorville Fairland 50: The Vikings, making their annual trip to the State Tournament, jumped out to a twenty point half time lead and never looked back, as VASJ advanced to Saturday’s finals in commanding style. For a junior laden Fairland team that had only lost one game all year, VASJ just had too much athleticism, as the Vikings pushed the tempo at every chance and simply wore down the Fairland squad. Junior point guard Gene Higgins was exceptional for the second year in a row at this event, as he scored 17 points along with 3 assists. Also standing out for VASJ were talented 6’8 sophomore forward Alonzo Gaffney with 18 points and 9 rebounds, as well as seniors William Butler, 16 points, and Daniel McGarry, 11 points. With their top six players all being juniors, Fairland certainly took the first step towards what could be a championship next season, as guard Keedrick Cunningham tallied 17 points, guard Luke Thomas connected multiple times from long-range for 11 points and 6’7 post Kollin Van Horn at times owner the paint in scoring 10 points to go along with 9 rebounds.

Cincinnati Roger Bacon 68 Archbold 43: Just like with Cleveland VASJ in the first semifinal, Roger Bacon exerted great energy from the get-go, jumping out to a 35-16 halftime lead en route to a lopsided win over Archbold. In their third final four in the last four years, Roger Bacon’s experience was key, as their trio of star seniors all performed well on the big stage. 6’6 forward James Johnson led the way with 15 points and 5 rebounds, while fellow forward Justin Johnson added 15 points on 6/6 shooting from the field. Additionally for Bacon, point guard Craig McGee tallied 12 points and 4 assists, while sophomore wing Alec Pfriem made his presence felt with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. Roger Bacon used stingy defense to open up transition offense opportunities, as the Spartans shot 68% from the field for the game, and forced Archbold into 16 turnovers and just 28% shooting on the game. Archbold was led by junior guard Bryce Williams, their lone double-figure scorer, as the shooter tallied 11 points, with all of his field-goals coming off of three-point shots.

Cleveland Lutheran East 50 Delphos St. John’s 25: A slow first half saw Lutheran East only lead 16-13, in what was a sloppy half of basketball, the Falcons turned up their intensity in the second half in an emphatic win. Junior guard Jordan Burge was the catalyst for Lutheran East, leading the team I scoring with 16 points, while adding 3 rebound and 3 assists. Senior point guard Maurico Tate chipped in with 10 points for the Falcons, while athletic senior post Justin Motley added 9 rebound and 2 blocks despite not scoring. Robby Saine led Delphos St. John’s with 10 points in the loss, while Jared Wurst added 9 points of his own.

Columbus Wellington School 68 Lima Perry 47: After trailing 18-13 to end the first quarter, Wellington put the blitz on Lima Perry for the final three periods, as the Jaguars advanced to the State Final in convincing style. Junior guard Solomon Pierre-Louis led the way for Wellington with 16 points and 5 rebounds, while 6’7 senior Dustin Harder dominated the paint with 9 points and an impressive 21 rebounds on the night. Juniors Guy Schmidt and Noah Berry also scored in double-figures for Wellington, with 11 and 10 points respectively. Lima Perry was led by the 19 points of Orion Monford and the 14 points of Plummie Gardner, while Jakoby Lane-Harvey added 8 points and 7 rebounds in the loss.

Saturday State Finals

Division I: Cincinnati Moeller vs Massillon Jackson (8:30 PM)

Division II: Wauseon vs Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary’s (10:45 AM)

Division III: Cincinnati Roger Bacon vs Cleveland Villa Angela-St. Joes (5:15 PM)

Division IV: Cleveland Lutheran East vs Columbus Wellington School (2:00 PM)